


Waiting on Wings

by theladyscribe



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen, New York Islanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5450486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyscribe/pseuds/theladyscribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I want to play in the NQL," he says. "I won't get good enough if I play quidditch here."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting on Wings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blueorangecrush](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueorangecrush/gifts).



> Many thanks to my cheerleaders and my beta, N, who assured me this read well and provided me with a title. blueorangecrush, I hope this meets your expectations!

When Kyle turns twelve, his parents sit him down at their kitchen table and talk to him about choosing a wizarding high school. Most of his friends will be attending the local one, where his sister goes, disguised as a homeschooling collective — a typical set-up in the States, since wizarding communities tend to be small and far apart — and Kyle could do that, too, but.

"I want to play in the NQL," he says. "I won't get good enough if I play quidditch here."

His parents look at each other like they were expecting this response.

"Most of the boarding schools are far away," his dad says.

"You moved away from home for school," Kyle points out.

"We'll have to fill out applications," his mom says.

"They might not take you," his dad warns, but he says it kindly, like he hopes he's wrong.

"I know," Kyle says. He also knows he'll never make it to the NQL if he stays in St. Paul.

*

His parents help him fill out applications to ten schools: two in Canada, three on the east coast, one in Colorado, and all four in Minnesota. They're all good schools, of course, but he already knows that Shattuck-St. Mary's is his first choice. Shattuck is home to the American wizarding world's best and brightest, but it's also the preeminent quidditch school in the world.

Kyle knows if he goes there, he'll have the best chance of getting seen by the National Quidditch League's scouts. He'll get to play with the best prospects in the world, maybe even be considered one himself. If he's lucky, he'll get drafted when he graduates.

*

The waiting is the hardest part. Kyle and his parents send off his applications in the fall just after he starts the eighth grade, but decisions won't be made until spring.

He _knows_ he won't see any letters until February at the absolute earliest, but it doesn't stop him from scanning the sky for birds with letters clutched in their talons.

Kendra rolls her eyes at him. "You're gonna end up with bird poop in your mouth if you keep your mouth hanging open like that," she teases.

*

Slowly, the letters start to trickle in. The first is a rejection from the school in Colorado; Kyle doesn't care about it and refuses to let it get him down. One of the Canadian schools puts him on their waitlist, while the other rejects him outright. Two of the east coast schools want him, and he's rejected by the third. The Minnesota schools are the slowest to arrive; two of them offer him admission, one waitlists him, and the fourth.

The fourth is Shattuck, and it hasn't come.

*

March bleeds into April and the other kids in St. Paul who sent out applications have already chosen their schools. He's gotten calls from two of the schools that offered him admission wanting answers sooner rather than later, but his mom has put them off, saying they were still weighing his options.

Kyle tries not to worry, but the waiting feels like it might kill him.

*

The letter arrives at last, on his birthday, dropped into his bicycle's basket by a huffy little screech owl. He nearly crashes into a light pole in his hurry to stop and read it.

 _You have been selected to enroll at Shattuck-St. Mary's School for Witches and Warlocks_ , it starts. Kyle skims the letter, looking for the most important part, and there it is, at the bottom of the page — _You are cordially invited to the Shattuck-St. Mary's Bantam Quidditch Try-Outs, held one week prior to the start of classes. Further information will be provided after the school receives your acceptance of admission_.

He hops back on his bike and pedals home as fast as he can to share the news.


End file.
